Thierry Henry, Roger Federer stunned as 'one of the best points' of Laver Cup between Flavio Cobolli and Learner Tien sends O2 Arena into raptures
By Leon Imber
Published 26/09/2026 at 19:46 GMT+1
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Former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry was left visibly stunned alongside Roger Federer as Flavio Cobolli won "one of the best points" of this year's Laver Cup against Learner Tien on Saturday. The 20-shot exchange saw momentum trade hands several times, but ended with Cobolli sinking a delightful backhand winner down the line.
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Footage from coverage of the London event - available to watch live with TNT Sports on HBO Max - showed an awestruck Henry with an amazed expression at what had unfolded before him, sitting beside a man who had seen it all on the tennis court - 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
The monster rally took place on deuce during the sixth game, with Team Europe's Cobolli 4-1 down during a tough opening set.
However, the 2026 French Open runner-up went on to showcase some of the very best of his abilities to take charge of the groundstroke exchange after being pushed deep into his forehand corner.
He orchestrated the latter stages of the point by pushing Tien out wide on his backhand before taking the ball early to send the American sprawling back to his left-sided forehand position, and crunched an outstanding backhand winner to get an important break and leave his European team-mates on their feet, applauding.
"That's why he's top 10," commentator Sam Smith said, as Sam Querrey added: "That's one of the best points we've seen at this event. About 15 to 20 good shots combined from both guys."
Jim Courier added: "Good use of the angled forehand from Cobolli to break the point open, and then sticks the dismount with this brilliant backhand."
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And Courier could not help but remark on Henry's shocked expression when the cameras turned to the Frenchman.
"Oh yeah, wow, that's right Thierry," he said. "Got that right."
Despite the terrific point which saw Cobolli pull himself back into contention in the opening set, he could not overturn the immediate double-break advantage as Tien recorded a 1-0 lead.
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An improved showing in the second saw the Italian win 6-2 and force a deciding first-to-10 tie-break, which was won by Tien, as he kick-started a Team World resurgence on Saturday.
Alex de Minaur later beat recent US Open champion Alexander Zverev - again via a deciding tie-break - to see Team World come from 3-1 behind and take a 5-3 lead before Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz face off in the evening.
How to watch 2026 Laver Cup
The 2026 Laver Cup will be live with TNT Sports on HBO Max.
Day 1 will be available on TNT Sports 2, with Match 1 scheduled for 12:00, Match 2 set to get underway at 15:00 and Match 3 expected to start at 18:00. Match 4 will then be played at 21:00.
Day 2's action will kick off at 12:00 on TNT Sports 2, with Match 2 set for 15:00 and Match 3 scheduled to start at 18:00. Match 4 will begin at 21:00.
Day 3 will run on a slightly different schedule on TNT Sports 2. Match 1 will start at 11:00, with Match 2 scheduled for 14:00, Match 3 set for 16:00, and Match 4 expected to get underway at 18:00.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through HBO Max, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
Here is the TNT Sports schedule and TV guide.
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